MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A state senator is accusing the Bentley administration of using state employees to spread fear among elderly Alabamians by telling them their services are in imminent danger of being cut unless legislators support the governor’s tax increase proposals. The governor’s office says the calls are not scare tactics, but rather an attempt to inform service recipients what will happen if the legislature passes the budget it is currently considering.

On Friday evening, Sen. Harri Anne Smith (I-Slocomb) took to Facebook to express her outrage after receiver phone calls from scores of constituents frantically trying to make sure their caregivers were not abandoning them due to budget cuts. Sen. Smith noted that funding is already locked in until October when the current fiscal year ends. She also said she has not heard any legislators seriously discuss making cuts to such services.

On Sunday evening, Yellowhammer interviewed Sen. Smith by phone. Below is a lightly edited transcript of her explanation.

Around 4 p.m. Friday afternoon I started getting phone calls from constituents in my District who participate in the Medicaid Waiver Program. Most of them are elderly people who have home health caregivers through the program. Others are families with children who have terminal illnesses and are not able to leave them alone for even a moment. These people are some of the most vulnerable among us.

They had been called by their case workers from the Department of Senior Services, which administers these programs, telling them their services were about to be cut. They were told to call their senator and representative to tell them to keep their services going. Many of the people calling me were in tears, panicked. Some of them said they don’t even know what medicine they take and if their helpers weren’t coming on Monday, they wouldn’t know what to do. These were mainly seniors and they were begging me to make sure their caregivers would come back Monday.

Earlier in the day I had received a call from an administrative assistant at the Aging Division here verifying my contact info. I gave them my cell and home numbers. When I started getting phone calls from constituents later in the day, they all told me their case worker had given them my number. I got over 100 calls. When I called the local Council on Aging back, they told me they had been instructed to make these calls by their superiors in Montgomery.

This is crazy. It’s one thing to have a political agenda and talk about it in the news, but it’s a new low to actually use state employees to call the most vulnerable among us and create panic. This is not something we should be doing, no matter what our budget situation is. We’re not even finished with budget hearings in the legislature. I’m concerned they’re going to call mental health patients next. This is a dangerous precedent.

Using a political tactic to take advantage of the most vulnerable among us is the lowest thing I’ve seen in all the years I’ve served.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office told Yellowhammer the calls were strictly informative and dismissed accusations that they may have violated privacy laws.

“The budget the legislature is considering would drastically cut services for Alabamians,” said Jennifer Ardis, Gov. Bentley’s communications director. “The Governor’s budget does not have any devastating cuts. The phone calls are simply to let Alabamians to know what will happen on October 1 if the legislature passes the budget they are considering. It isn’t a scare tactic or a threat. It is a reality if the legislature fails to address the financial crisis in the General Fund. No HIPAA laws were broken.”

Neal Morrison, Commissioner of the Department of Senior Services and a member of Gov. Bentley’s Cabinet, echoed Ardis’s position that the calls were informative, adding that he believes it’s his responsibility to educate his agency’s clients about potential impacts to the services they receive.

“They’re clients of ours,” he said of the individuals who received calls. “We have to notify people if there is a potential of their services being interrupted. Why would you cut a program that’s actually saving taxpayers money? We should be figuring out how we could give this program more money, not less. It keeps people at home, rather than in longterm care, and it receives matching funds from the Federal government that are roughly three times what the state puts in. I’m hoping the legislature is looking at this from a business standpoint because this program helps people and saves money. It would be bad business to cut something like that.”

Morrison, a former legislator, said he does not envy the task legislators are undertaking in crafting a budget under difficult circumstances.

“I actually sent a letter to legislators a couple of weeks ago apologizing to them that I have not done a good enough job educating them on this program and how it impacts people,” he said. “They’ve got a tough job and have to make hard decisions. But the reality is that somebody’s going to be affected. It’s like playing chess. If you move a figure on the board, it affects the whole board. I was asked to educate clients and direct service providers on the potential impact of potential cuts, and that’s what we did. I’m sorry Sen. Smith got upset. She’s one of my go-to people, a dear friend and someone who’s always Johnny-on-the-spot on this kind of stuff. That’s probably why she got so many calls. But it would not be right to wait until Sept. 30th to notify people about these potential changes. I cannot with good conscience sit back and not educate people on this.”

Gov. Bentley is scheduled to be in Guntersville on Monday to discuss the potential closure of 15 state parks, which he says would be necessary if the legislature does not find a way to increase revenue to the state’s General Fund budget.

The governor’s $541 tax increase proposal has not gained momentum in the Republican-controlled legislature to this point, but lawmakers face the daunting task of patching an estimated $270 million hole in the budget over the next several weeks. Gov. Bentley has said he is willing to call multiple Special Sessions with a focus on increasing taxes, if the legislature does not approve such measures during the current Regular Session.

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— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) December 3, 2014